Sanitary district going its own way

Deirdre Newman

After a relationship going back more than 50 years, the Costa Mesa

Sanitary District is asserting its independence and breaking away

from the city.

The district has outgrown its space in City Hall and wants to

streamline its staff in a new building, manager Rob Hamers said.

On Monday, the district’s board of directors agreed to purchase a

property on West 19th Street for $730,000, Hamers said.

The move has been considered for 10 to 15 years, but the cramped

space at City Hall these days has made the move a necessity, Hamers

said.

“The city doesn’t have enough space for its own people, let alone

our people,” Hamers said.

The sanitary district was established 60 years ago, nine years

before the city was incorporated. On Feb. 8, 1944, voters approved

forming the district to install a sewer system and to collect trash

and garbage. Today, the district serves about 115,000 people, and

it’s still headed by a five-member board of elected officials.

The district doesn’t expect to move out for another four months,

Hamers said.

The city will continue to support the district until it is fully

moved and settled into its new digs, City Manager Allan Roeder said.

“While it looks like the district might be ready to make its

actual physical relocation in terms of relocating by this spring, we

have told them that we will continue the contractual relationship for

however long it takes, even if it’s month-to-month, to allow them to

get themselves situated,” Roeder said.

The district employs about 15 people. Four of those are at City

Hall. The district also uses some city employees for things like

finance and graphic arts, Hamers said, adding that having its own

space will allow the district to be more effective.

“The people we use from the city have bosses from the city, and

they also have bosses that are from the sanitary district, so you

have two different lines of authority,” Hamers said. “And it would

make it a lot easier if they were just not under city direction and

were only under Costa Mesa Sanitary District direction.”

In addition to the property on West 19th Street, the district is

also interested in the property behind it, on Meyer Place, to use for

parking, Hamers said.

* DEIRDRE NEWMAN covers Costa Mesa. She may be reached at (949)

574-4221 or by e-mail at [email protected].